The Graphics
by Speares
Summary: The Hunger Games was fake, none of the tributes are truly dead, just isolated and kept away from prying eyes so the Capitol can get their answers. Your favorite tributes discover dark secrets of the Capitol and learn of new, horrible fates that even a career can't say are an honor. Who will last long enough to see the sunlight and repeal the Hunger Games forever? T for Hunger Games
1. Confusion and Refusen

**The Graphics**

**This is probably kind of stupid, but it was just a thought and I decided to turn it into a story! I did my best of writing in Cato's POV, sorry if it's not how you imagined him! Don't judge me!**

**Cato's POV**

**Confusion and Refusen**

"He's up! He's up!" Loud voices filled my aching head before my eyes even opened. Some of them I recognized, like Thresh and Clove…Clove! Am I dead? Katniss shot me…right?

"Cato! You were supposed to win!" Clove's snarky voice shakes me awake and out of the distant land I was in. Huh, I guess I'm not allowed to live in the peaceful oblivion.

"Am I dead?' I say groggily.

My eyes flicker open and I struggle for breath for a moment.

"I don't know but you were supposed to win!" her voice is almost pitiful as she hugs me.

"Well I didn't….who did?"

"We're actually waiting to know, they're just realizing the rule of two victors has been repealed." Clove says as I shove her off me and sit up.

"I feel like a chew toy….how is I okay?" I look down to see my skin free of any harm or any scars for that matter… How is that possible? I'm supposed to be bloody pulp…I'm not complaining though.

"Cato." I look up to see the monstrous, lumbering Thresh sanding over me, scanning me over with a cold glare.

"Didn't I um…kill you?"

Thresh doesn't say anything and I want to cling protectively to Clove, not because I love her but because she is like a sister to me, and Thresh is her murderer. Wait, I'm his murderer.

I drop my hold on Clove and nod towards Thresh.

"I'm sorry I killed you."

His gaze stays like a stone for a moment more before it melts. This stuns me a little bit.

"All of us are; it is all because of the Capitol that we have hurt each other."

Thresh turns and leaves, after that no one visits me.

"So…why aren't we dead?" I ask Clove.

"Why are you acting different?" Clove crosses her arms and stares at me coldly.

"I'm confused…and I've learned things." She scoffs at my answer and turns to the TV.

"Just kill him already!" she shouts as the two lovers talk. Ha, Lover boy hasn't given up the act. He should know that Katniss doesn't love him, it's obvious.

We see them try and kill themselves with nightlock berries. Stupid girl, just kill him!

Fortunately Katniss doesn't and they are stopped from swallowing them. Hurray, they're the victors.

"That was an interesting Hunger Games…" I say out loud.

"Yeah, 'interesting', start talking mister." Clove turns back to me and tries to search her jacket for a knife, old habits die hard.

Why is she demanding me for something I don't know about?

"Why didn't you win?" she says, hands shaking.

"Excuse me? Oh yeah, because I was thrown to the dogs, devoured…that type of stuff." I say, but I can see her getting really mad, struggling to control herself.

"You promised you would win! You promised!" Clove starts to do weird strangling motions and a tear actually slips down her cheek.

"Crying? Are you serious?" Back home in the academy, they told us never to cry, its weakness and weakness is frowned upon.

Two men come into the room and take Clove away, who is kicking and screaming.

"No! It's okay! She's disoriented! Don't hurt her!" I pound on the metal door and shout, anger building up in me. What was that all about?

Defeated, I turn around and sit on the bed hard, metal bed.

Soon the door opens and I hurry out, looking for Clove…or just someone to beat up to tell me where she is. I arrive at a large room, much like the training center in the Capitol but more advanced and detailed. A boy, looks like the one from 3 that I killed passes by and I grab his shoulder.

"Hey, where's Clove?" He just stares at me, very scared and shocked by the fact that I'm being civil with him.

"I-I- I don't know." The boy mumbles.

"Please." I say.

"Check the mental ward." I let go of his shoulder and he runs away.

They put her where? How dare they!

I speed off down the halls, following the signs until I can hear a doctor say 'the girl from 2'.

"Where's Clove?" I demand. They look at me and then laugh.

"She's in here, we're keeping her confined for her own safety." The first one replies, not even looking up. I grab his arm, twisting it until he answers me.

"Open it!" I yell. He lets out a wail of agony as I start to hear cracking noises.

"Okay! Okay!" he opens the door and I throw him to the ground and run in. Clove is sitting in the middle of the room, cutting the floor with a knife.

"Come on Clove, let's go." I hold out my hand but she just shakes her head sadly and goes back to cutting the floor.

"Clove?" she doesn't answer me and the look on her eyes is clear that she hates me now. Frustrated I storm out and back to the training room I found.

I pick up a deadly sword and quickly slash apart a dummy. Again and again I do this until I would've been unable to stand when a small girl comes over, a little frightened.

She has dark brown skin and eyes and stood leaning forward, on her toes, with both arms slightly extended. This stance made her look like a bird, ready to take flight.

I recognize her as the girl from district 11 and don't feel like talking to her.

"Hello?" she says.

I only grunt to show that I've heard her and keep on practicing with my sword.

"Why are you training? It's all over?" she asks, tentatively like she would bolt any second.

"Kid, it's all I've ever known." I tell her without pausing, expecting her to leave.

Instead she stands there and watches me, assessing my every move. Finally I don't see her but when I turn to strike the next dummy she's right in front and I barely have time to stop my blade from hitting her, yet I do.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? I COULD"VE KILLED YOU!" I shout. Instead of being scared, she's right there smiling.

"I knew it." The girl says.

"Knew what?" I grin coldly at her, not in a friendly but in a way more like, _you dare?_

"That you aren't a cold-blooded killer, I'm Rue."

Rue holds out her hand for me to shake, and I do, chuckling darkly at her guts.

"Thank you…I think. Name's Cato."  
Rue frowns when I bend to pick my sword and kicks it across the room.

"That was dangerous." I say as she makes me sit down and hands me a cup of water. Rue makes me drink it all and I chuckle and shake my head.

"I don't get it," I say.

"Why are you being nice to me…and why aren't we dead?"

Rue sits down next to me and loses her smile.

"We never went into the games, those were virtual versions of ourselves, and our minds were transferred. So I figured if all of that was fake, why hold it against you?"

I take a swig of water and turn to her.

"That just might be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." She laughs and points to my arm, which has a small cut on it.

"Howja get that?" she asks and pours some water on it to clean it out.

"How do you think I was supposed to stop the blade?" Isn't she supposed to be smart?

Rue nodded thoughtfully before squeaking a small "Sorry.".

Looking down at her I laughed, she was so tiny next to me.

"Rue?" Thresh poked his head into the room and then walked in.

"Why are you with _him_?" he pointed to me with a hint of disgust.

"That's what I'm still trying to figure out." I mumble but Thresh shoots me a glare.

"To give him a second chance," Rue says, puffing her chest up slightly.

"I'm trying to keep you safe and I don't want you around him." Thresh gently grabbed Rue's arm and pulled her out of the room. I don't blame him, I'm a horrible person.

I sit there on the ground for a while, remembering every tribute I killed, all for what? For honor! Stupid honor and pride that my district has enough of! In other words; who to avoid.

Ouch…that's a lot. And Clove hates me…Why? Because I didn't win? Because I killed a lot of people? If so that's pretty unfair because SHE tortured people to death; I ended their lived quickly!

"Cato, it's time for lunch, you have to come." A staff member poked his head into the room to summon me. I groaned and followed him into a large room. The Mess hall was just a plain room with several tables for seating and tons of food. Immediately I know it's all healthy and good for you. _Hooray…_

I only take a small loaf of bread and sit at the very end of the table where no one comes to sit by me. That's a relief…except for when I see Clove glaring at me. Why? Rue tries to come over but I'm finish with my food and storm back to the sword room.

When I get back there's a bed in the corner with light grey sheeting and a single white pillow. I sit down and bury my face in my hands, thinking I'd rather be dead. Really, all my confidence is gone and I don't know where I am. This has a bigger effect on me than anyone may think.

Who am I?

Before long some doctors come into my room with a bunch of machines and wires. They tell me to take off my shirt and then they stick a bunch of the wires on my chest and arms, and one on my face.

"You're too stressed…try and relax…" He says as he turns some dials on the machine.

"Um, no, can you get these off me?" I snap.

"Cato, please cooperate with me!" the doctor stresses as he writes down some notes.

"'I'll do this later." I rip some of the wires off me and storm out of the room, t=several people yelling at me. As I pass by one room I see some doctors doing something to Rue's face, she's obviously not a fan because tears are streaming down her cheeks.

"Leave her alone!" I push them back and take Rue's hand, but she jumps on me and gives me a hug. Okay…

"I don't want to listen to them…" she whimpers.

We walk back to the Mess Hall and hide in a closet while chewing on some flaky white bread with a dose of honey, both of us are smiling. Once we're sure that we're okay we walk out.

"Do you want to watch a movie with me and Thresh?" Rue offers.

"I thought he didn't like me…" I say.

"Tough luck for him." She smirks and I want to burst out laughing.

"Alright…"

"You should…Er…go get ready."

By get ready she probably means go get a shirt on, but hey, I can't help it if I like to show off my abs, these are 18 years in the making. We walk past my room to grab my shirt and then I follow her, putting it on as we go.

Why am I hanging out with her?

"Rue! I told you…Never mind." When we walk in Thresh barely acknowledges me as me and Rue sit down on the leather couch. The TV is an impressive flat screen, about as big as me.

The movie is some weird Melancholy movie that Makes Rue cry but I and Thresh don't bat an eye. How silly this is.

Rue falls asleep, clinging tightly to my arm, when Thresh finally talks to me.

"Why does she like you so much?"

"I don't know… I'm a cold-blooded killer." I say and sigh.

"She told me how you got upset when you almost hit her with the sword." Thresh says absentmindedly, he sounds like he doesn't want to give me credit. That's okay, I don't blame him.

"Rue just got in the way of my strike…" I mumble. Humble? No, I just know I'm a bad person and I shouldn't take any credit.

"I hate you so much, you know that?" he says.

"Really? Thanks for informing I _totally _didn't know that…" I roll my eyes and stare at the screen where this stupid girl is singing some stupid sob song.

"_But you're not next to me mentally,_

_Your body heat is ice as you stare into the distance; _

_You're not entirely there…_"

How more stupid can the Capitol get? Who gives a thing about dim-witted things and movies?

"You're not entirely there, give yourself some slack…" Thresh says, obviously noticing my gears turning fast in my brain and my interested expression.

"I thought you hated me." I say absentmindedly.

"I do, but you're being unfair to yourself." He says casually.

"Maybe I'll do that when I can figure out why Clove is mad…"

Thresh sighs deeply and turns to me.

"Why do you care what she thinks?" he asks.

"Because she matters to me…when I first met her she tried to stab me…" the last part I didn't mean to say but clearly it amuses Thresh.

"She's a nice one…" He says.

"Maybe I don't hate you….if it weren't for all this….stuff…from the games we might've been friends…" Thresh said absentmindedly. I let out a dark chuckle, amused by his statement. Friends? Does he hate me or not?

"You're confusing," I say.

"You're a lost puppy." Is all he says to my comment.

I cock my head in confusion.

"Ok, I hate you a little but we can be friends." Thresh grudgingly concludes.

"I prefer the term acquaintances." My reply is sincere when I answer. Thresh sighs and nods his head.

"So why don't you hate me? I killed you, faster than I wanted to…stupid falling rocks…" I mumble and Thresh groans.

"Ok, never mind, I still hate you." Thresh says and I feel Rue stirring next to me and we both shut up.

Her large brown eyes flicker open and she glances at me sleepily as if nothing had happen but I can feel her trembling slightly and her eyes give away stress. She reminds me of my little sister, Hasta, except for the fact that Rue admits weakness.

Hasta was much different in looks with her tow-head hair and tall and bony frame. She had icy blue eyes like me and we looked much alike.

Rue is very different from Hasta in looks and it makes me almost want to cry that I can't ever see my little sister. And if I have to see Katniss's little sister Primrose, I might just kill something, they look so much alike. So much.

"Did you have a nightmare?" I ask her, sweetness in my voice I only used for Hasta.

Rue nods her head and sits up, embarrassed to be caught.

"_Transparent, that's what you are,_

_A wisp of you left to haunt me_

_Because I know you're not entirely there…_" The stupid singer, though good and pretty, walks along the beach as shadows in the shape of her and her dude dance and stuff like that. Again, I can't stress this enough, stuuuuupid.

"Just watch the movie," I say, trying to shake off the brotherly approach I had a minute before.

"Alright well I'm gonna go."I stand up and quickly leave the room and head down the hall, anywhere would be welcomed.

I'm around the hospital when a hand on my shoulder stops me. I turn around to see a nurse staring kindly at me. She's a blonde with her hair tied back in a bun and a lot of eye shadow and mascara on, though not ridiculously. Her grin is scaringly, dazzling white and freaks me out.

"Cato is it? You're overdue for your examination, if you would _please_ come here by tonight to receive it we could do it gently." O grunt and push her aside, continuing my wandering until I find a giant pool.

It's marked with black lines and a few numbers so I guess it's for laps. Works for me.

I take off my shirt and go to the part of the pool where it's so shallow you can lay down without getting a mouthful of water and this is what I do. The water is freezing but I don't care. It numbs me, and I really need numbness right now.

I stare up at the ceiling and count the little specks, trying to keep myself busy. The song in the movie haunts me because I know ever since I glared at the Fire Girl at the chariots, it layed out my destiny and I haven't been entirely there.

**Ok…Sorry if I don't write Cato good but he is confused and shaken. Let me know what you want to happen in the story and what tributes you want him to meet!**


	2. A Chance and A Warning

**For those of you who thought he was OOC I'm starting to get his confidence slowly coming back to him. I'm making it where all he's ever known is training and stuff like that and now he doesn't know what to do about himself. Make sense? I sure hope so… Please review! Negative comments are also appreciated! (Plz I need help writing Cato) Apologize for any grammar errors because my spell check isn't working.**

**A Chance and A Warning, Not to Mention Mischief**

As I'm lying in the shallow water I still keep my guard up, not wanting anybody to disturb my….emptiness. I wish it was back to the Hunger Games so I could've taken Katniss out, revenge for this new horrid lifestyle. Instead I have to stick with my imagination, but all the same they satisfy me, enough.

The next thing I ponder is why Clove hates me, I think it's because I didn't win, or did I do something else?

That thought alone make me tense up and struggle to stay calm. I want to go up to her, slam her into something for her stupidity and yell at her. If she wasn't my closest friend, that is.

"You're mental," a voice says and I sit up abruptly and glance around quickly for the source.

There was a girl standing on the other side of the room, smirking slightly. She had fire-red hair, amber eyes, and fox-like features including sort of a sharp nose.

"Technically Clove is the mental one." I say.

"She doesn't try to freeze herself to death though." The girl replies as she walks over.

"Who are you?" I ask her.

"District 5 girl tribute." She replies and sits at the edge of the pool.

"Do you hate me?" I ask the girl, but not seeming anxious or anything like that.

"No, you haven't done anything to me. Why do ya need the reassurance?"

The District 5 girl splashes some water in my face and grins, well more of a smirk I guess; but she's definitely happy.

"Who are you?" I ask, but only when I see mischief flash in her amber eyes did I remember her as whom Katniss called 'Foxface'.

"I'm Viclean Vulpe." She replies.

**(Author's note: I don't know what her real name is but I heard it might be Flinch but I don't really like that; it doesn't suit her so I made up one.)**

"Okay, I know who you are if I report you or make you a tombstone." I say and lie back down, signifying this conversation is over. Seriously? What kind of name is that? However she doesn't move and only sits there, comfortable in the silence that follows. She strikes me as the type that is self-conceited but doesn't necessarily think they're even close to perfect.

"You were the fourth tribute left, right?" I ask her.

"Yep." She says.

"Never fought a single tribute; wiped out by killer berry." I smirk as I tease her but I don't get any reaction.

"I didn't fight because I knew all about this, which is way more than you, could say." Viclean mirrors my smirk and crosses her arms together.

"Someone's confident…" I mutter. What does she think she's superior or something?

I look around for her but she's gone, like a fox into the forest as it was caught eating some scraps. Pathetic.

Dismissing Viclean's…visit, I lie back down in the pool and close my eyes. Pretend I'm back n my district. Anywhere but here.

I dreamed; I dreamed an awful memory that I had forced into forgetfulness. But of course, unconsciousness knows not the rules of the waking, and I dream of my last night in the arena.

"Go on! Shoot, and we both go down and you win. Go on. I'm dead anyway. I always was, right?" I stood on the cornucopia with Peeta in a headlock, gasping for breath under my clutch. My mind was hysterical and my whole body burned, nothing made sense, except for the fact that I knew I was going to die and I felt…scared. I didn't recognize the foreign feeling in my chest at first for years of training have made me forget it.

"I couldn't tell that until now. How's that, is that what they want? I can still do this… I can still do this." My voice sounds hysterically unreal as I secretly beg for death.

"One more kill. It's the only thing I know how to do, bringing pride to my district. Not that it matters..." I hold Peeta and tighten my grip, taunting Katniss to kill me and her precious Lover boy. Pathetic and weak, that's what she is; a District 12 rat. I feel a movement on my hand and then the next second there's an arrow in it. Really it hurt like crazy but I had no time to register that as Lover Boy flips me over his shoulder. I'm falling down to the mutts when I'm shaken awake.

To my surprise nobody s in the room when I wake up, just me and my pounding heart…and head. Even though the area seems empty, I still get up and look around. Above me. Viclean is hanging upside-down off of some sort of monkey bars above the pool. It feels weird, calling her by her first name.

"Will you go away?" I yell at her. She just smirks at me as she hangs upside down. Seriously, what is wrong with her? You can't just stick around with someone who doesn't like you…or someone who can snap your bone.

"Maybe, I dunno…I don't have much of a place…I _really_ hate it here." Viclean makes a sour face when she says that last sentence

"Not many people come over here so this is where I hang out. Well, here and the forest room." I feel a flitter of happiness when she mentions that they have a forest room. We had one back in my district; they're really like giant forest inside a building. They're my favorite place to train.

"Whatever just don't bother me, if you know what's good for ya..." Something hits my face as I say that. I take it off to see that it's a towel. I raise an eyebrow at her.

"Dry off and go do somethin' besides laying around." She demands as she _attempts_ to dismount the bars she was hanging from. Instead she slips and falls right onto her back, making a big bang and a small splash. Viclean mutters something unintelligible at me as she sits back up.

"What are you going to do?" I absentmindedly ask her.

"'I'm going to…um…go lay down for a little while." I see her grit her teeth as she stands up. Well…again, _attempts_ to. I'm disgusted with myself for what I say next.

"Do you want me to help you?" Viclean scowls a little but then sighs as she falls again.

"Fine, whatever; just…" She's being really irritable right now, all her air of mystery is gone. And her smirk… I help her stand up and all she sends towards me is bitterness. Ha, Viclean is only happy when she's on top.

"You good?" I ask.

"Yep, I'm all better. Do you wanna come see my sister with me?" Viclean offers as she stretches her back.

"No. You can't even visit your family." A sly grin creeps onto her face.

"She died in the last Hunger Games. She's thirteen now…"Viclean says thoughtfully.

"Still not coming…" I say.

"Not the sweetest little girl…" she continues absentmindedly.

"Bye." I move to leave but then turn back around. Oh yes, her smirk has returned.

"Fine." For some reason I agree and throw on my wet shirt. She grins in a mixture of victory, smirk, and her signature sly grin.

I follow her through various hallways, twists, and turns until we come to a lone door. Viclean opens it after struggling with the door handle for about a minute and when we enter the room is just like mine. We look around for a moment but no one is here. Viclean sighs and turns to leave.

"Probably training…or hiding somewhere…." Viclean looks around before heading back out the door with me following.

We continue to walk for a couple more hallways before we turn into another doorway. This one is much larger and when we walk in it's a huge gym. It's not like the first one I was in because not a lot of kids are training. They're all sitting around playing card games or just bored and sad.

"Try not to be noticed, the careers in this section hate tributes that aren't from their games, they will do something awful." Viclean whispers before she disappears. I follow silently as we weave in and out between equipment. Finally we get to a back wall, Viclean opens a hidden door and smiles in delight at a small red-head girl. The girl looks up from a piece of bread she was nibbling and smirks. Around the girl are several papers, random knickknacks, and food items.

"Cato, meet Pramatie Vulpe, I just call her Atty." Atty was a small girl with fiery red hair like her sister, but had short bangs and it was slightly curly. She was very different from Viclean, instead of a air of mystery and a smirk that makes you wonder what she's planning Atty has a frown on her face but an air of confidence that lets you know she's in charge, or that she can control anything that happens to you. Actually, she seems kind of bored with us.

"Hi, can I help you wth anything?" Atty demands sharply.

"Nice to see you after we both fought to the death and I thought you were dead because you were mauled horribly by raptors where you screamed for six hours straight…" Viclean rolls her eyes.

"Fine, nice to see you too. Are you interested in any merchandise?" Atty demands and I have to stop myself from laughing. Viclean did not work this out well…ether that or her sister's just cold. I suddenly remember Atty, she was the second tribute left last year but died because to survive she had to come out of hiding to kill her opponent. She only survived because she hid, just like Viclean.

"Well…no, but what do you have?" Viclean asks, a hint of distrust in her tone. Atty rumages through her papers before pulling a small sheet out of the bottom of a stack.

"This is a map of this whole place. Even including the wall tunnels and where we aren't allowed to go." She inserts the paper into a small metal keychain and clicks it. A huge hologram layout appears and Atty taps and shfts around dfferent places to see new things.

"You can minimize it, enlarge it, all that cool beans…" I suddenly realize my shirt is soaked and uncomfortable. Wow, how do I miss that?

"Any chance you have shirts?" I ask.

"Dude, do you know how stupid you sound?" Atty looks up at me and then back to Viclean as they arrange a deal.

"I cracked about five kids' skulls." I say to her. Atty doesn't react.

"That's not something to be proud of." She throws a shirt at me, and I can see her little scowl flash across her frowning face. I grimace back at her.

"I also have some info for you guys, they don't stop the Hunger Games down here., it's called The Binding, much worse." Mine and Viclean's interest snap right to Atty as she says this. Finally, something Viclean didn't anticipate.

"How is it worse?" Viclean's voice shakes a little and she stumbles but I catch her. Quickly I place her onto her feet and focus my attention back to Atty.

"They do this continuously and you guys don't know about this because you are the newbies. Actually, no one knows what really happens in there, except me." Ok, maybe I was wrong, Atty does have an air of mystery. She knows how to keep someone anxious for her next words, hooked on what she says.

"Well, tell us!" I demand. Atty smirks for the first time.

"Come on, let's get lunch. Be good and you might not be part of The Binding."

I expect Atty to get out of her little compartment but she climbs up on some hidden ladder and Viclean follows. _What the heck is up with all these hidden things?_ I wonder as I struggle to fit in and follow.

We arrive in The mess Hall, the one for the 74th Hunger Games, and all sit in a table in the back where no one can see us. I watch Clove and the other careers laughing and talking…ast one point I think Marvel kisses Glimmer…yuck, I don't stick around after that.

"So you goona tell us what the Binding is?" I demand. Atty looks up from the piece of steak she's devouring before dismissing me and going back to eating. About five minutes later when she's finished she speaks.

"I'll tell you the basics.

"Twenty-four people are chosen, twelve boys, twelve girls. They are split in half. Six boys, six girls. One half, usually the older and more trusted people, but never to old usually under 25, are the Hunters. The other half, the least trusted and usually young but not too many really young kids, are what are known as the Bound." Atty pauses for a moment hinting that we can ask questions.

"What do they do?" Viclean asks.

"The Bound are set free in a huge arena, nobody knows this but they are able to escape, the force-field, no nothin' to confine them. Two hours later The Hunters are placed in the arena and they try to recapture The Bound. They can't escape. If a Bound escapes then its Hunter must take its place. Trackers are put into them so they can always be found. The hunt is cast live on TV for us unless a Bound gets past the escape point. When everyone is captured/present they are brought back here to be executed live. We can offer things to harden the punishment or make it a more merciful death." Maybe she's right, this is worse than the Hunger Games. Despite my usual mask my face shows shock and so does Viclean's.

"And no graphics of fake life, that is guarunteed. I know where the arena is and I have a map. Lemme know if you're picked." Atty concludes.

"I lost my appetite…hmm…it would be nice if Katniss was here and in put in The Binding…." I say thoughtfully. Strangely, none of them argue with me.

"Can you volunteer?" Viclean ask, more of just wondering. She doesn't seem like the hero type.

"Yep."

"What are you doing back here? And who's that little girl?" I look to see Glimmer, Clove, and Marvel staring at me. Glimmer seems mostly relaxed near me and slightly happy, though confused.

"What I'm doing has no concern to you." I say while maintaining my bored mask of expression. Atty is just frowning at Glimmer with a look of disgust, though that's how she looks at most people.

"You suck at the bow." Atty says while meeting Glimmer's eye. Taken aback, she stutters on he next sentence and looks very flustered.

"W-w-w…Well let's see you do better!" Glimmer snaps.

"Dude who is bad at the spears, can you fetch me a bow?" Ok, bored mask gone. I'm very amused right now. Marvel scowls back at her before going to get one. When he gets back he throws it at her but she catches it. Glimmer looks satisfied, she doesn't even expect Atty to pull back the elastic. But atty does, and when she let's the arrow sly it hits what I would expect to be Glimmer's sparkly target. Marvel and Glimmer have murderous look sin their faces but Atty is nowhere to be seen. She left, fled; like she always does and always will do. That girl can hide, especially since she has a map of everywhere. Looking at the table I see she left it to us.

"Do you need some ice?" I say with a smirk. Glimmer looks thankful and opens her mouth to say something before I cut her off.

"Because you just got burned." They all storm off angerly and I see Viclean laughing her head off beside me. Something tells me that was something she would have done, except she has tried to stay off everyone's radar. Sometimes I wonder about her, she's actually someone I can except as a friend. I have no shame in doing that, if I'm going to be here I might as well exceppt one person.

They say there are lines in life and you are either on one side. good and evil, persistant and annoying. She has no boundaries, she knows exactly how to weave between the lines and not be labeled as anything but mysterious, cunning, a shadow silently following.

"So, Viclean, your sister seems nice." We're both smirking at each other when two men appear at the door and point in our direction before running over. Like her sister, Viclean is gone without a trace. I wish I could do that, I'll just have to stick with threatening the men.

"You never did your examining, we need to check you over." Several thought race through my mind, _I want to remain hidden, I don't want to cause trouble._ I don't waqnt to be in The Binding…but if I was I could escape and ssee Hasta… That would be nice, except…wait, we aren't going to be forced to kill each other…

"I really don't want to do that. Sounds painful." I turn to leave before I see two peacekeepers pointing their guns at me. This is way more than a simple test, and I know that for sure when they shoot me. It started as a small blurr speeding towards me while the rest of the world froze. Felt it in my fist, in my feet, in the hollows of my eyelids, shaking through my skull, through my spine and down through my ribs. When it struck my skin a flurry of red shot out and I clutched my shoulder in agony. The next shot they fired was different, as it hit I didn't feel like pain. All my bones began to shake, my eyes flew open. One or two more shots were fired, I could hear the thunder and see the lightning crack as they met my skin. Defeated, I fell to my knees and blacked out. Yet, all I could wonder was, _what is going on?_

**Hey, I promise that if you guys (I'm probably talking to one person… ) get to ten reviews then I'll do a long chapter in your choice of a tribute! (I can also write in Katniss's and Peeta's POV) I don't care if you don't agree with how I portray Viclean, this is how **_**I**_** envisioned her. Ha-ha, I do ship…um…what do you call Glimmer and Marvel…Glarvel….Mimmer…**

**If you want to send me Bound and Hunters for The Binding then feel free. Also tell me what tributes from the 74****th**** should be in it. WARNING: The may die painfully. And no, The Binding is NOT the main plot in this story.**


	3. Informational Discoveries

**Cato's POV**

**Informational Discoveries**

I dream of the time Clove was killed. Her small statue was huddled in a ball and clutching her head, screaming of the pain. Somehow, I don't think it was just her skull that hurt her, I think it was also something else; I never asked. She screamed out my name and I rushed quickly to her aid, calling out to her. I held her on my lap and begged her to stay with me, not to leave me alone. Clove shook her head and told me she couldn't, but she said these last words.

"Win for me Cato…" They came out of her mouth in one breath as her chest rose and fell, her time was slipping away like sand through my fingertips. No matter how desperately I held on, it would always find the tiniest crack and escape.

"_When death comes  
I'll need not love –  
Consumed,  
No wreath or dove  
Could offer me salvation,  
Not when I'm no more,"_ I spoke the words of a poem me and Clove had read when we sneaked into the library and went through the restriction section. We liked it and memorized it, we knew we were going to go into the games together and decided this is what we would say when one another died.  
_"A weathered stone will bear my name –  
Identity of once a being  
Living out existence in  
A world of risk, and never seeing  
Sense of why we're here." _Clove said quietly as if she had given up on life._  
"My genes will die away thro' child –  
Hue of eyes and hair, the way of thought,  
Will quickly dim with generation –  
Bow to future dominance –  
Memories of provenance  
Resigned to curious few."_ I say after she finishes her lines. There's a silence as I wait for her to say the last verse.  
_"When death comes  
I'll need not grace  
Below; no grieving face  
Will call my resurrection,  
Not when I'm at ground –"_ Her eyes begin to close and her breathing slows to one breath.  
_"Death and I so bound."_ Clove looks at me for a moment and a small tear slips down her cheek. But the small part of her eyes not covered by her lids says it all, she is scared to die, scared to leave. It was the only thing that ever scared her. A once vicious girl reduced to a scared, pitiful child. The canon echoes around the clearing and with it I feel my sadness slowly receding and being replaced by a torrent of anger that washed over me. I was dripping, drowning in hatred for Thresh, her killer, her murderer. Setting Clove down gently, I pick up my sword and stare in the direction where Thresh disappeared into the fields.

"Let's have some fun."

The dark room slowly comes into focus and with it the pain of my wounds. My whole body is racked painfully with coughs and waves of heat that leave me too weak to do anything. What happened to me?

"You are awake," I hear a door slam and a tall man walks in holding something in his hands as he walks towards me. Strangely, the only thing I thought was I could've made a better entrance.

"We just wanted to do your test but without meaning to, you've already passed one." He says and I realize he was holding a clipboard. I don't reply and continue to stare at the ceiling and get the focus off my pain.

"It seems you were taken here by mistake, but as long as you are here then you can do some testing for us." The man said, reading something from his clipboard.

"Well, I'm not the best at math but fire away. You wanna hear my best math problem? Bullet plus human equals pain." The man frowned at me before walking over.

"We'll test a regular human quality verses the quality of a mutant…" he said absentmindedly.

"Don't worry, we'll stick to test that won't kill you, the mutant will take most of the pain…" Okay, nothing this guy is saying makes any sense. Suddenly the bed, or rather table, is rolled out the door and I start to freak out. Maybe I'll kill Viclean and maybe by the sounds I'll survive. There's screaming everywhere and I hear cracks of whips, shot guns, you name it. I close my eyes and refuse to hear or look at anything and just focus on my pain.

"Please enter that maze." I'm thrown off the table and down to the ground, causing my wounds to open again. Fatigue crashed over me like a tsunami but I manage to stand up and enter a room. Inside I meet the eyes of a girl. At first they were a green grey but the second they met mine they turned a cold, icy blue. Not like mine but more of a solid type.

She had long hair that draped slightly past her shoulders in uneven, choppy layers and short bangs going over her forehead which slimly covered her eyebrows which were a light brunette shade. The color of her hair was a red, not at all like Viclean's shade, a mix of different shades including small streaks of orange, though the orange is most like a slight tint. Wynter is at average height and has soft features that make her look innocent, but I'm not fooled. Clove looked like a little girl but look at her skill with knives, she never missed. The girl doesn't have any hint of muscles, just soft skin that is a fair color. Her eyes attracted me most for how they changed shades.

I noticed that the temperature dropped and think it's more game makers but then I notice how ice crusted on the edges of the girl's skin and slightly on her long hair and eyelashes.

"Don't lay a finger on me!" She barked in a scared, yet commanding tone.

"Are you some type of mutant?" I ask, taking a few steps back and involuntarily shivered at the cold.

"You're not mutated?" she asks with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I'm a tribute from the 74th Hunger Games." I raise an eyebrow too, we're both confused.

"What's the Hunger Games?"

The girl asks, taking a step forward.

"Pain, suffering-" she cuts me off.

"You mean the lab?" What? No, what is she talking about.

"No, we're all forced to fight to the death until one remains-"

"The Arena? You won that? But you don't have any mutations…" Will this girl let me finish?

"No! I'm not from here, I'm Cato from District 2!"

"I'm Wynter from…from the ice…" Wynter says, still confused. Geez, Viclean would understand me in a moment, I got to find her.

"Stay out of my way or we will fight!" I growl at her before running into the entrance to the maze as the door closes behind me.

It's all blank, white walls; the trainers told us how to do these things. Just climb over the walls.

I punch several foot holds and then climb over, doing this several times without any rest.

After about what I think would be an hour I hop over to see Wynter and the rest of the wall obliterated, the entrance several yards ahead. I know what the game makers are trying to do, only one can come out. Wynter walks towards me and when she's close I grab her in a headlock. Wynter twist out of my arms, letting out a yelp of shock before closing my eyes and facing me. I expect she's excepting her death but then suddenly I'm froze entirely in ice, the last thing I see is Wynter dashing out the exit without a second glance at me.

Painful rays off heat surfs down my body in huge waves and water drips down my face and into my mouth in torrents, causing me to spasm out in coughs as I try not to choke. My whole body is freezing and as the heat waves continue, burning also. I can't see, I can't breathe, I'm helpless. It takes a minute but I notice for a minute that there are doctors moving around the room, but the dancing colors covers everything up and I don't know if I'm conscious or not. My body begins to tremor.

"Hang in there…Stupid scientist! Of course you wouldn't stand a chance against that poor girl…probably punishing her right now. Snow says you'll be valuable in the upcoming times, rebellions have flared up….otherwise he wouldn't even grant you medical care…" A woman speaks softly to me as she pours some water down my throat, covering it quickly with my hand so I can't cough it up. What does she mean? Rebellion? Wynter is being punished? How? Most of all; what is going on?

"If you can walk we'll take you back upstairs now and to your room." The woman helped me up and supported me as we walked out of the room, my steps shaky and unbalanced.

As we walked down the hall we passed a window that wasn't covered up like the rest. I walked closer to see better, looking inside to see a lady standing over Wynter.

"That's Carmine, don't press her or be rude at all unless you want to be on that table. She did tell me you could enter if you wanted to." I slowly pushed open the door and Carmine turned to see me, a cruel smile on her face. Her face was stunning; with her high cheek bones and perfectly curved eyebrows, her eyes had a perfect frame to them. Her eyes look like onyx stones, dark black pools that seemed to stare into my soul.

"What can I do for you?" Carmine scanned me over as she dried her hands on a towel.

"I just wanted to watch, is that alright with you?" Carmine reminded me of my trainers back in my district, except she showed more excitement in seeing pain. She was cold, actually that was just Wynter, and seemed to despise weakness and showing pain.

"Yes, that would be fine, you're a tribute, am I correct?" she asked me as she strolled to the back of the room.

"Yes ma'am." I reply quickly. The walls are lined with thousand of different knives, blades, whips. You name it, it's there.

"I don't like the Hunger Games; Snow is out of his mind. He should donate twenty-four kids to the lab and once we successfully mutate them they fight to the death in _my_ arena." Carmine said as she pondered which knife to pick. They lined the walls in thousands of pairs and her eyes focused on some curvy, rigged knives and took four before walking back over to the table.

"You thought you could evade the rules, hmm?" I walked closer to the table and met Wynter's eyes, showing her I had no pleasure in this yet I didn't mind it. Carmine stabbed one knife down into Wynter's left hand and then plunged a second blade into the other hand. Wynter's eyes lit up with pain as they rolled back into her skull and she clenched he teeth so hard I thought her jaw would lock.

"So, I can let you off the hook this time if you tell me the answer to my question… What happened to the girl who controls metal and the feline girl?" I watched with my bored mask on as Carmine questions Wynter who is silent yet defiant. More goes on down here than I think.

Wynter doesn't answer and shows no sign of doing so; Carmine strolls to the end of the table and presses the tip of a knife into the sole of her foot. She waits a minute to see if Wynter would answer, then she slowly pressed the blade in. I watch curiously before staring deep into Wynter's eyes. They flick from a green grey to a dangerous, icy blue. Not like mine, they are many shades but are like one solid color somehow. She thrashes against the bonds that hold her to the table but only succeeds in worsening her cuts. As Wynter sees I offer her no help and she is trapped her eyes change from icy to like blue waterfalls and electricity that flow into her pupil like it's a giant void that never ends. Pain and fear sparks in her eyes and shame claims her face. At this I can't help but let the corner of my lip twitch up before resuming my stoic expression. Carmine removes the knife and starts on the other sole, ice now filling and covering her wound. I can't help but think of Clove when I see Carmine's actions.

"Carmine-" She wheels around, ripping the knife out of Wynter's foot, and throws the blade at me. I barely dodge and the knife grazes my cheek, but I don't even flinch. Carmine slaps me and I can already feel a bruise forming and my cheek is stinging wildly.

"QUIET! I DON'T APPRECIATE YOU INTERRUPTING ME!" she yells before strolling over to the wall to pick out another weapon.

"Now, when I'm over here you may speak." Her cruel eyes glaze and flit away to different weapons before settling on a malicious looking glove.

"I'm sorry ma'am, I was just wondering if you wanted someone to lend a hand to you with the…ahem…interrogations and tortures my friend Clove might be willing to help." I say, resisting the urge to clutch my cheek.

"Is she a tribute? How far into your games did she make it?" Carmine asks.

"Yes, she was the girl who tortured the tributes to death with her knives-"

"Yes! I shall send someone for her." Carmine leaves the room and comes back a minute later with a drink.

"I just love boiling, hot, sour lemonade…" she takes a sip before tuning and pouring some on each of Wynter's wounds.

"To hot for me to put ice cubes in, they melt so quickly…" Her cruel smile turns into a large sadistic smirk as she hears a cry come out of Wynter's mouth.

About ten minutes later Clove enters the room with a cruel smile identical to Carmine's.

"Cato?" She looks at me, surprised that I'm here. I just shrug and gesture with my shoulders to Wynter on the table.

"This mutant here won't answer my questions…Please pick a toy." Carmine points to the wall but Clove is already staring at the glove. The glove is covered completely with different blades, all sharpened to perfections and I expect to cut through skin like butter. Carmine swats her hand away and puts the glove on her own hand.

"This is my personal toy, anything else you may touch." Clove grabbed the handle of a rigid, curvy blade and like a flash of light stuck it into Wynter's side.

"You were going to talk now, icy?" Clove twisted the blade and drove it slowly deeper and that's when Wynter screams. It's literally blood chilling as the temperature drops down hundreds of degrees and her scream makes my ears ring, as the pitch soars high. Clove, agitated, rips the knife out and stabs it into her other side.

"Have they picked the people for the binding yet?" Carmine asks Clove rather casually.

"Yeah, Marvel got picked to be a Bound." Clove says as she twists the knife in circles.

"You know, I'm in charge of the execution for The Bound…" I watch them talk and see Wynter's pain, finally starting to feel sick.

"Really? May I help?" Clove begs. I'm now leaning onto the wall for support.

"Yes, you seem to know a lot about torture. Cato, dear, you can go; a guard is outside and can escort you to your room." Carmine waves me away and I quickly make to exit before I hear Wynter talk.

"They…they are using tributes to hide them!" I love the way her voice rises to stop from screaming. My eyes flick to her and I see that Carmine has ripped skin of her stomach and it is bleeding heavily. Quickly I slam the door and follow the guard.

When I get to my room the guard has long left and I collapse on my bed. Viclean is playing with the map on the floor as if she didn't notice me come in.

"You missed the selecting for The Bound; we're supposed to watch the full coverage right now." Viclean turns on the TV without looking at me and I star eat it as the screen lights up.

"I'll tell you everything I found out afterwards." I say.

"_Another exciting Binding! Let's see The Bound!"_ The TV shows peacekeepers hauling away a girl who I knew from my district and the 70th Hunger Games. I think her name was Rosemary…. Then a girl that I don't recognize from anywhere volunteers to take her place.

The girl has long, thick layers of light chocolate hair that cascades down her back in straight waves; her skin is a light, creamy color with little gold flecks dotting it in a sparkling fashion. She has delicate features that offset the hard bone structure she has and appears to be sweet and innocent, although her scowl breaks the illusion. At first sight her eyes are the first thing I see, no matter what angle I look at her from, they're that magnetic, being an intense shade of yellow and green. The green is pale but the yellow is a light golden color that slowly melts back to the green. Another delicate feature is the girl's lips, a dark red that clashes with her sweet appearance.

"She's pretty…" I say. Viclean laughs at my comment but then narrows her eyes at the screen. I barely notice it but the copper jewelry she has twisting along her collarbone and around her arms seems like part of her skin, but when I see the metal move slightly it confirms our suspicions.

"_Wow! Look at this; I've never seen a pretty face volunteer before!"_ The announcer says. We see a bunch of other people get chosen that we don't know except for Marvel and the boy from District 3.

The camera switches to another pool of tributes which I recognize one from the 73rd, me and Viclean hold our breath as we wait to see if Atty is chosen as the last female Bound. A petite girl is yanked out of the crowd, tethered to the peacekeeper by her long black hair that would give midnight black a run for its money.

The girl is very slender and looked quite weak physically. Her skin is very pale and its porcelain color stands in stark contrast to her jet black hair which is dead straight, is very long reaching down to her hips. Her eyes are her most striking feature, they are a dark, yet slightly luminous green, and always seem to be seeing more than just what is visible, but more into a soul.

"She's very beautiful too…" I say. Viclean narrows her eyes again at the screen.

"Her eyes are so cat-like, she's small, looks flexible boned, long legs though…" Is it just me or is Viclean picking out feline features?

"She's definitely a mutt." Yep, that makes sense, Viclean; especially if you've seen where I've been.

Next they show the Hunters which are mostly tributes who have lasted long into their Hunger Games. They show some tough looking people but I have no interest and I and Viclean start to talk when someone comes into the room.

"Hello, we're looking for volunteers to help with the chariots and other things." I smirk at Viclean and she rolls her eyes.

"You want to see that pretty girl, right?"

"Yep." Viclean laughs and we follow the man, but I see Viclean slip the metal keychain into her pocket looking very weary.

The man rakes us down a few halls, up two elevators, and out a door. The instant sunlight blinds me but at the same time I'm filled with uncontrollable happiness. The outside…I haven't seen it in so long. When my eyes get used to the light I see we're in a forest with a couple buildings and then not far off looks like a large arena. Not like a fighting arena but one you might ride fancy horses around or somethin'…I'm not sure.

"You guys know how to handle horses?" Before we can say anything the man pushes us towards a large black horse. Just from the animal's anatomy I can tell it's only the finest breed of horse and is always treated well. Better than me I think…

I take a brush and begin to groom its silky fur, sucked into a habit Hasta, my sister, gave me.

We were taken to this ranch a little ways outside of District Two to train in different, real landscapes. Hasta took me to the horses and began to talk to one, a black one just like this one, after a minute she asked why I wasn't talking.

"Because nobody talks to horses." A simple answer.

"Say something, you'll feel better if you do." She demanded.

"Why do you want me to talk to a stupid horse?" I ask, softly stroking the mare's neck. Seriously, our most random argument ever.

"Because!" Hasta stomps on my foot but I don't flinch. Finally, I sigh in defeat.

"Fine…um…horse…is hay good?" I say awkwardly, just continuing to stroke the horse's neck.

"See?" Hasta says expectantly. I shake my head at her an just continue to stroke the horse and even end up braiding its main in a French braid. Man, I feel so nerdy admitting I braided a horse's hair; or even knew what a French braid was.

"You okay?" Viclean asks and I realize that I French braided the horse's main.

"Yep." I reply. No, no Viclean. I'm not.

The girl with feline-like attributes walks over to us. She's wearing long, black leather pants with a white shirt and a matching jacket with her hair flying around. Her unnatural green eyes stare into my soul as she looks to me. She grabs my arm and pulls me to the side.

"You know who Wynter is, correct?" the girl asks, her hold gentle and just to direct me in her direction. Is this the feline girl?

"Yes, and you escaped, correct?" She nods.

"Just…do what you can to help her, if you see her tell her Dusk and Nexa sorry to leave her and that we will come back." I nod, actually meaning it.

"Your secret is safe with me, I'm Cato." There's a shine of thankfulness in her eyes but more outweighed by distrust.

"Dusk," Dusk walks away and I head back over to Viclean, explaining everything I saw in my visit to that lab and just now.

**How was that? Pretty unique! I have to say Dusk isn't my character but rather from a role-play I was in. I just think she's awesome. Review please, we're close to 10!**


	4. BONUS: Foxface: What I Don't Tell Him

**Howdy-hey guys! Hopefully this chapter might pick up a few more people… do you guys like this story so far? Please let me know what you think! I'm not sure if you would count this as super long but here you go! See if your views change about any characters, if so then please let me know!**

**BONUS: Foxface's POV **

**What I Don't Tell Him**

I feel a little bad about leaving Cato, but it's not like he needs me, he can take care of himself pretty well. While I wait for him I decide to go do a little thieving of my own, Atty must have gotten all that stuff from someplace.

My foot steps are light and silent as I creep towards the concealed door in the wall, I'm very careful not to alert Glimmer, Marvel, and Clove. Who knows what they would do to me if they caught me on my own? I don't have Cato with me or a witty sister to offend them so much they just leave. With careful fingers I pry the door open and slip in, closing it tightly behind me. Not far off I hear about four loud bangs that sound like the canons from the arena.

The paths are small and narrow, seemingly carved out of stone. I crawl straight for a long time, not really thinking where I'm going, when I start to wonder what those bangs were. My best guess would be guns but the men that came in had no weapons, yet more men could have followed. Whatever, he's a big boy that can take care of himself. That is, of course, if there are no mutts there.

I make up my mind and open up the map, by the looks of it I think I can wire it to show where humans are. First things first, get paper and writing utensils for mapping out my plan to make sure I wire it correctly. I head off to get some from Atty but then freeze, it would be much simpler to just steal a motion control and heat scanner. Ah, I love being sneaky.

The supply room is empty, I mean, why guard it when you have high-quality locks on them? I slip through the small door and up to a barred cabinet that says _**Broken Monitors**_ and stick my hand in to grab the smallest one I can find. Yep, thief proof for sure….

Once I have the monitor I slip back through the door to the tunnels and crawl back to the 74th gym. My mind wanders to distant places and I go to the wrong gym. Oh-

I'm normally more focused. But it's too late; I'm already out and spotted. Before I can move a large boy has my arms behind my back and slams my head into the wall. My ears begin to ring and I can't ignore the burning sensation _in_ my head. I try to twist out his grip but he pushes me against the wall harder and tightens his grip on my arm.

"You gonna kill me?" I smirk at him, but grimace slightly when he pulls my head backwards.

"Maybe, you never know what information is in a person's head." He breathes hotly into my ear and snatches the monitor out of my hand.

"Oh okay, well I have…hmm, I think a fire in my head for _your_ information because it's kind of burning…" I roll my eyes the best I can at him; actually I think it's just from the pain. He continues to bend my head back and I decide to attempt something I've never done before. I jump up, kick legs off the wall, and bend backwards so I'm doing something like a flip out of his grip. I get back on my feet and run away, choosing the maze to be my path. It's all blank white walls and I'm through it in a second because of my incredible sense of direction. However, the career boy and his posse don't get out…for a while. The maze isn't too long, though it's very wide. They're nowhere near the exit.

I continue to run and I see some of the kids staring at me in awe, like I've made a difference. Whatever, I'm not a do-gooder. I open the door to the tunnels and slip in crawling as fast as I can to the 74th gym and literally tumble out door, which happens to be in the eyesight of Marvel and Glimmer. Clove is gone for some reason. My luck is horrible today because Marvel comes over, a look of glee on his face. He doesn't like that my sister and Cato embarrassed his girlfriend. A scared look appears on my face and I run in the other direction as he begins to pursue me. _Come on Viclean! You can still do this; you can still do this…_ I can still do this.

"You seem the weakest of the three!" He throws some rope device at me that seem similar to a lasso but I run in a complicated pattern so he can't aim at me. The smartest decision would be to keep running but I'm tiring out and the fire in my skull is making my vision blur and change colors. Finally one of those ropes hits me in the back and quickly tangles around my arms, holding them to my sides, I'm trapped. Marvel hauls me up and drags me across the floor and to some trapeze rings that would probably be used in a form of gymnastics. He ties one hand to one ring and the hand to the other ring, and then he leaves me hanging there. As soon as Marvel is gone I jerk my hands in a way that makes my bonds come loose and I fall to the ground. My head is pounding so hard and I'm terrified someone else is going to attack me; I barely am able to stand and stumble as I try to walk. Tears start to drip down my cheek and I'm coughing. When I see Glimmer approaching where I was just chained my breath catches in my throat and I try my best to get out of view. Again, fail; bad luck. Nightlock…Nightlock barriers aren't going to save me now, not like they did before. Actually; they didn't save me at all.

I crouch defeated on the floor with my eyes closed as I hear Glimmer walking towards me. There's the sound of a kick, punches, some sign of a scuffle; but when I open my eyes I see Glimmer running away and a girl standing in front of me. She had porcelain white skin, long black hair, and unnatural green eyes that seemed to bore into my soul.

"Are you okay?" the girl asks shyly.

"You're a muttation, aren't you?" I accuse her, but carefully keeping the hostility out of my voice.

"I can't trick you so, yes, I am. Please don't tell anyone that you've even seen me, my name's Dusk." Dusk hung her head sadly.

"Can I help you escape? That is, if you'll take me and two other people with you." I bargain. Dusk thinks for a moment before nodding.

"Follow me; we're going to go get my other friend who was put into testing before she could escape." As I tried to stand up a fiery whip of pain soared through my head and I fell back down. Dusk pulls me up gently and I lean on her as we walk down the halls.

She takes me down a couple of turns and down several types of stares. As we walk I see several painful looking scars all along Dusk's body, she's been through worse than me. I cast out all my pain and try to focus on how I'm not acting strong and should. Within ten minutes I've gritted my teeth and can't feel anything anymore; I won't allow myself to.

"Wait! Follow me!" I whisper urgently as I hear footsteps. They seem to be getting closer and closer to us. Quickly I grab Dusk's hand and yank her into one of the doors that lead to the tunnel. You can always tell if there's a door because there's always a circular dent in the walls.

"We'll crawl through here, where exactly are we going though?" Dusk reached into my pocket and slowly pulls out the map, clicking it open and doing a bunch of fast finger movements until it shows the layout of some dungeon, evil looking place with several small rooms placed close together.

"Lead me there." I say, but she's already moving and I follow.

Soon Dusk opens a door and we both slip out into the cruelest place. There are dirty cages with cement walls around them and several guns hung up in locked cases in various places.

"Oh my..." I gasp as we pass a cage. In it is a boy and a girl huddled together. The girl has long, thin platinum blonde hair and blood red eyes filled with fright and an anomalous hollowed look. She has a hard bone structure but her skin looks soft and white but then I notice that she's covered in white scales. Her lips look like they were stained red, her finger nails are long like talons, and the sickly smell of artificial roses comes off of her; I remember that smell from the victory parade. The boy looks almost identical to her except his features are harder and more rigid. Immediately I want to help them but Dusk pulls me away and deeper down the halls until we come to an empty cell labeled A9. It looks pretty banged up and we have to slide into it as a peacekeeper passes. We slip out and Dusk looks distressed as she continues to lead us deeper into this awful place.

When we pass by a large window I hear screams of "Please, stop!" and "I can't tell you!" that send chills down my spine. Dusk looks like she's in pain as we walk down the corridor, but I can tell she hasn't been freshly hurt. Finally when we pass this on window that is clean enough to see through the temperature dips slightly. Dusk peers through the glass and lets out a horrified accent of a gasp and backs away, but I can see her mouth the words, _tell them_. I look into the glass to see some woman standing over a red-head girl who is lying down on a table. Beside her is a girl, by her malicious laugh I realize she is Clove. _How did she get here? _In the corner of a room is some boy I can't see correctly, but he is silent and motionless.

Dusk yanks me away from the window and we hide behind a wall as the door opens. As soon as the corridor is silent we run back to the first hidden door and slip into the tunnels; my thoughts still on the platinum blonde boy and girl who barely looked human.

"Okay, I'll find my partner and then come get you when we've figured out how to escape or override systems." Dusk dropped me off in the 74th gym.

"Okay, see you then." I sprint down the hall and down to Cato's room where I search all of the compartments in the room until I find a locked box. Taking it out I quickly figure out the combination and pop open the lid. Inside are a bunch of electrical parts I suspect to be some monitoring device. I rip out the motion sensor and then take out the map, fumbling with a bunch of wires.

A few minutes later there's a knock and a peacekeeper steps in, quickly shoving the map away I stand up and he guides me out of the room and into the gym where everyone is gathered. It reminds me sickly of a reaping and I realize that Cato's nowhere to be seen.

"Well, You all are the newbies so let me explain what events are happening here!" A tall capitol woman walks onto a newly constructed stage. Like most, she's dressed ridiculously in a fluffy pink outfit with long purple hair tossed to one side and golden lipstick. She explains all about The Binding and I hear several kids burst out crying. None of the careers are excited when they realize they can't be hunters, there is no honor in being let loose like animals and killed. The capitol lady opens up an envelope.

"I will now say which of you are going to play the role of the bound." I tense, knowing me being chosen is slim and even if I was that meant a chance to escape; it still scared me.

"District 1's Marvel Oregano." The lady's voice is very squeaky when she says his name.

Marvel is shocked to hear his name and Glimmer is sobbing into his shoulder and trying to hold on as some guards yanked him away and out of the gym. I let out a laugh, just loud enough for Marvel to hear me but nobody else; like someone had given me a lovely surprise.

"Oh, well this is very unusual…District 3's Elec Trin, wow! Two Bound from one group!" When Elec is torn from the crowd and thrown into the back room with Marvel several kids gasp in relief and a few, actually a lot are crying. The lady leaves and all the doors open. I head back to Cato's room to continue my work on the map.

After about ten minutes of my rewiring and diagramming the map the door opens and Cato walks in. He looks sick and beat down but I don't pay him any notice as he collapses on his bed. Probably had a rough day wherever they put him.

"You missed the selecting for The Bound; we're supposed to watch the full coverage right now." That's all I say to him without looking up, maybe I should show him a bit more compassion, Cato actually looks kind of sick. I turn to the TV in the corner and turn it on with the remote in my hand.

"I'll tell you everything I found out afterwards." Cato grumbles.

I don't listen to any of the sound and just analyze the first female Bound picked, actually she boldly volunteered. I swear I've never seen her in any games and she has foreign looking metal jewelry that slightly shifts for a moment. Immediately I know she's Dusk's mutt friend.

"She's pretty…" I laugh at his comment but then narrow my eyes at the screen again.

"_Wow! Look at this; I've never seen a pretty face volunteer before!"_ The announcer says. I see a bunch of other people get chosen that I don't know except for Marvel and the boy from District 3.

The camera switches to another pool of tributes which I recognize one from the 73rd, me and Cato hold our breath as we wait to see if Atty is chosen as the last female Bound. A petite girl is yanked out of the crowd, tethered to the peacekeeper by her long black hair that would give midnight black a run for its money.

My blood stops and I struggle to breathe as I realize it's Dusk. Dusk and her friend were chosen. How will I escape now?

"She's very beautiful too…" Cato comments. I narrow my eyes at the screen.

"Her eyes are so cat-like, she's small, looks flexible boned, long legs though…" I list out Dusk's feline features, trying to give Cato a hint.

"She's definitely a mutt." The words slip through my mouth and Cato looks at me, his eyes saying the words. _You have no idea_.

Next they show the Hunters which are mostly tributes who have lasted long into their Hunger Games. They show some tough looking people but my interest has long left. I and Cato start to talk when someone comes into the room.

"Hello, we're looking for volunteers to help with the chariots and other things." Cato smirks at me and I roll my eyes.

"You want to see that pretty girl, right?" I tease him.

"Yep." I laugh and we follow the man, I slip the map into my pocket looking very weary.

The man takes us down a few halls, up two elevators, and out a door. The instant sunlight blinds me and at the same time I'm not wowed. The outside…I haven't seen it in so long.

When my eyes get used to the light I see we're in a forest with a couple buildings and then not far off looks like a large arena. Not like a fighting arena but one you might ride fancy equines around.

"You guys know how to handle horses?" Before we can say anything the man pushes us towards a large black horse. It looks like a very fine animal. We begin to brush it but I notice Cato spaces out and plays with the horse's mane.

"You okay?" I ask him when I see he French braided the mane.

"Yep." He replies sadly and puts his hand in his pocket.

Then I see Dusk walking towards us and tactfully ignore her. She's wearing long, black leather pants with a white shirt and a matching jacket with her hair flying around. Dusk grabs Cato's arm and pulls Him off to the side.

They talk for a moment before Cato comes back over here, my eyebrow raised in a questioning way.

"There's…something I need to inform you on," He explains everything that happened to him while he was gone and by the time he finishes I am so mad at him. So mad that I slap him across the face, but instantly regret it when I see he already dark bruise on the cheek I slapped.

"You brought _Clove_ down there to torture the poor girl? Do you know how sick that is?" I yell, I don't tell him that I was down there. Within five seconds blood is drizzling down his face but I see no reaction from him.

"Yes."Cato says, rather casually. Somehow that's weirder than if he actually tried to lie. He wipes the blood off his cheek and then grabs my shoulder with his bloody hand, his face inches from mine.

"I don't care if you don't approve, I took no joy in it; I'll tell you that. It made me sick to see what I saw but I don't care about that. She was just an animal that could be set up as a decoy to make good impressions on us, so we could escape soon. Maybe you didn't know what you got yourself into when you allied with me. I kill, I set up, and I don't blink an eyelash at what it takes to succeed." Cato whispers into my ear. He's really; truly scaring me right now and I let that fear show right through my wide eyes. Surrounding us is several peacekeepers, unsure whether to intervene or not.

"Killing…that's fine…it's just torture. Torture is gruesome..." I say. "I know you will always have blood on your hands, they are already stained. I've had a little red myself on my visor and I'd like to wipe it out; you're not helping." He smirks evilly at me.

"No, I know about all the traps you set, all the food you stole; everything, and that all led to children dying; so no. You're 'visor' is dripping, running with red and one little thing like helping a trapped person won't stop the flow from spilling onto your hands and drowning you." Cato let's go of my shoulder and walks away, a few medical workers rushing towards him. The peacekeepers go back to what they were doing and I'm still standing there in shock. I thought I could pretend he wasn't a killer but I can't. Cato has revealed that I am a killer too, though not directly. Still as bad and I need good people to bring me to light, not him.

"Hello, I'm from the Capitol and I'm inviting you to a formal event taking place here." Someone taps me on the shoulder and I look to see a rather simple man with a capitol accent speaking to me. I act like he's not there and stare in fear at the distance, still in shock.

"President Coriolanus Snow is visiting and we are hosting a formal ball to welcome him. We have been searching for interesting tributes with acceptable records to attend the ball. Afterwards we watch The Binding and present our thoughts about it. Your outfit will be what you wore for the interview." The capitol man says. That might be a good chance to escape or make good ties so I can leave…I'll take the chance.

"Yes sir, I would be happy to attend, when is it?" I ask him.

"Tomorrow." He replies.

"Alright then," I walk away, unsure of where I'm going; just walking until someone stops me.

After a few minutes a peacekeeper takes me and leads me back to the 74th gym and I just walk down some halls. When I find a locked door I pick the security device and slip inside. The room is filled with several old furniture and knickknacks; I grab a fluffy blanket that is certainly a luxury and curl up inside an old cabinet. It's so soft, so warm…I think I could just slip away here and never come back. Leave forever, because inside…I'm already dead.

"Girl, Girl!" I hear someone whispering beside me but turning seems like too much work.

"It's me, Dusk. I was able to sneak away for a moment to talk to you." Okay, I can do a little work… I turn around to see glowing green eyes in the dark room.

"I'm going to escape and then send people back to you, what is your name?"' she asks urgently.

"I'm Viclean Vulpe." I say dreamily.

"Okay-" I give her the little map keychain and cut her off.

"Take this, I wired it to show human movements and it will also show you the landscape and the escape point." Dusk looks at me seriously but I'm starting to fall asleep.

"Viclean…I-I-" She stutters for a moment before examining the keychain.

"This is a keychain."

"Just click it…" I'm asleep.

I drift in and out of sleep having silent nightmares about my days in the arena. I only ate those nightlock barriers for a painless death, not by accident. I was scared of Cato and Katniss.

My thoughts wander to why I was hanging out with Cato in the first place; my only answer is I knew he could help me escape. I've gotten through a layer or two with him and have noticed that he's usually honest and could be a good friend. But I'm not looking for friends; I'm looking to get out.

I broke my spell as a shadow no one could see to escape. I want to leave, to join the rebellion. I've establish to myself if only one person could leave then it would be me, Cato hasn't payed attention, he shouldn't trust me, nobody can. I'm a tricky fox putting up an act so I can leave this place, this awful place.

This is comfy…but some noise in another room makes me get up and sneak back to the gym. I find a tight space and curl up there, drifting off into a restless sleep.

"Hi honey, we're going to be your new prep team for the Welcome Ball." I'm shaken awake and gently dragged out from my hiding spot which turns out to be the box where they store towels. Awkward… I don't fuss as a lady with pink skin and wild blue tresses and a boy with electric green hair pull me into a room and sit me on a chair.

"Let's see…oh we don't have much to work with here!" the lady takes my hair out of its bun and rubs it between her fingers, pondering what to do with me. I don't say anything, I'm a little shocked at their presence.

"Did I sleep that long? That's so unlike me…" I say sleepily. The lady laughs at me, a jolly, high pitched-laugh. I look around to see if someone stabbed a mouse.

"No, we just saw how much of a piece of work you were and wanted to get started a day early. I'm Dosit and this is Ostas, we're your stylist instead of a whole prep team." I stare closely at Dosit and watch her movements, her jaw when she speaks. She looks too real to be a Capital citizen. Every part of her moves to freely and her accent is slightly different; she can't fool me.

"Where were you born?" I ask her.

"Why, the glorious Capital of course!" I can't tell her actual height…her heels are that tall. There's a little rise and fall of her tone suggesting otherwise but I drop the matter and play along.

"Alright then, who from the 74th is attending the ball?" I ask. Dosit smiles, her white teeth blinding me.

"Yes, all twenty tributes are invited." She makes me get up, walk over to another chair, sit down, and then she dunks my head into some chemical. It's like Dosit is clawing my head with those long, dagger nails of hers. I sit obediently but don't really speak much and just grit my teeth as they scrub me down in various different baths.

After what seems like a couple hours they claim me acceptable and Ostas hands me some fluffy electric green pajamas. I slip them on and hug myself, it's so unlike what I'm used to.

"Thank you…it's very soft." I say.

"We'll come get you in the morning, go to your room and stay in there," Dosit and Ostas lead me back to my room and I collapse on the bed. In seconds sleep overcomes me.

I'm woken up by my stylists and lugged out of bed and back to that beauty room where they washed my hair and gave me the baths. They wash my hair again, dry it, and then put me back in the starting seat.

"Let's see…hmm…I say we get her dressed first." Ostas hands me a small, ice blue dress with a tiny teal ribbon near the top. Translucent flower designs coil around my dress and there are no sleeves. I slip it on after I took off my night clothes and then go back and sit down. Dosit puts some kind of ruffle collar around my neck and then they start to work on my hair.

After an hour they're satisfied with my hair and move on to makeup. This only takes a few minutes as they only put a glistening clear coat of nail polish on my nails, a light pink lip gloss, and some teal eye shadow.

They let me stand up and walk me over to a mirror. My hair is parted with a couple locks on each side and some types of messy little buns similar to my style in the arena. Two small tendrils of my hair were left out and whorl and reach slightly past my eyes, the rest of my hair is in fiery curls that reach past my shoulders. For the finishing touch they slip some small white heels on my feet.

"Well, you're not Rosalie Darling but you're now presentable now." Dosit says, stepping back to admire her work.

"Well I think she looks good." Ostas looks happy and takes my hand, leading me out the door. We walk down the hall, Ostas and Dosit talking about the latest Capitol gossip, Dosit opens a door and Ostas gently pushes me in.

The room is larger than a gym and hundreds of people are chattering and mingling about. I walk over nervously to a large table that holds more food than I've ever had in a year. There's various meats, soups, greens, fruit, you name it. I take a small spoon and gingerly take a sip of a green soup that taste like springtime, but that's all I eat for now.

The door opens and I see a man walk in, surveying the landscape like a battleground. Someone steps in front of me and blocks my view and I walk forward a little and see that it's Cato. He's wearing a reflective suit with black pants and shirt. His tie was a couple shades of brown and his hair was spiked up slightly.

Quickly I slink farther back into the room and into a corner, hoping I fit in with all the strange Capitol people.

"Hello, dodging someone?" I look to see a woman walking towards me. I freeze up knowing this is the lady seems very cruel.

"Yes, a tribute, we had a fight." No point in lying. The woman is wearing a shortcut dress that hugs her frame and reaches down to the floor; a large slit up one side exposes her bare leg.

"Ah, you're from the 74th? My name is Carmine." Carmine holds out her hand and I shake it wearily.

"Yes," I reply nervously. Carmine takes slow slip out of the wineglass in her hand.

"Are you from any of the Districts?" I can't help but break my nervous pattern to ask that question.

"District 2, I came to the Capital and now serve a high position. Would you like a drink?"She offers.

"No, I'm fine." A man dress all in bright pink with brown hair comes and talks to Carmine and I slip slyly away to the corner of the room. Someone snatches my hand and pulls me to a table lined with chairs. They sit me down and I'm looking straight into the snakelike eyes of President Snow. The smell of roses and blood makes me slightly sick.

"Wondering why I pulled a nobody like you out of the crowd? It's actually rather obvious if a brilliant girl like you rethinks your recent actions."

**Did any views change? How did I do at writing in Foxface's POV? Thanks for reading and please review! Should I do Foxface again? If yes than I'll write another one when we reach 20 reviews.**


	5. Conversations

**Should I do a chapter from inside District 13 before Katniss came and they were organizing the rebellion? I was considering a view through Pramatie's eyes…Dunno; let me know what you guys want. This might be a kind of short chapter because I'm having a block right now. Back to our brutal, bloody Cato!**

**Cato's POV**

**Conversations**

I'm stuck chatting with some ridiculous looking and dressed Capital women for a time and then after about an hour I manage to slip away and just lounge against a wall while drinking some water. Several people are walking around and laughing, eating a _lot_ of food. I spot Carmine talking to Clove not far off and quickly leave the area.

I decide to go get some food and headed over to one of the tables in the back, picking out a stick with different cubes of meats. The first one is steak and as I eat it I realize it's the first thing I've eaten in a couple of days. I let the flavor sink into my mouth for a moment before biting into the next cube which is chicken.

"Hi." There's a slight tug on my elbow and I look around to see Atty, who has recently slipped my mind.

"Hey there Pramatie." I smile at Viclean's little sister, a big brother vibe coming into me. I like Atty a lot; she's not like other young girls, in District 2 she would be at the top of her training class.

"How'd you get invited here?" Atty gives a sly grin at my question and walks in front of me. I hand her one of the kabobs and wait a minutes as she chews on a piece of chicken, her appreciative gaze making her look like someone told her she couldn't eat.

"If your sibling is invited then you're invited too, do you like my dress?" Atty twirls around and I smile. It's acheckered, light blue dress with a darker, solid colored blue top sewed up the middle with checkered string and then tied up in a bow.

"Yes, it looks good on you, what are you up to and why aren't you with your sister, Viclean?" I ask her curiously.

"President Snow has her, he's talking to her. Why aren't you with her, Cato? Did you two have a fight?" Atty says. Why would Snow want to talk to her? It doesn't make sense to me…

"First off, we weren't friends, and second of all, it is not my job to watch over anybody. Why do you think Snow had her?" I ask Atty with a slight harsh tone.

"I don't think it's because she was famous because almost no one knew she existed…" I say, chewing off the next piece of meat which is pork and wait for a minute.

"Interrogation maybe?" Atty guesses as she bites off two cubes in one mouthful. Why would they want to interrogate her? Viclean wasn't worth anything.

"Viclean is very smart, maybe they found out about her sneaking around or maybe to help them test weapons and theories." I nod at her guess thoughtfully. She does have a point there.

"Hmm…are you going to do something?" Atty waves her hand in a way that means, _'Eh'_, fifty-fifty.

"I dunno I'm not the hero type." She takes her fingers to the bottom of the stick and shoves the rest of the meat slices into her mouth. Genius? Yes. Lady-like? No.

"That makes two of us…" She grabs a glass of water and we both stare ahead. We clink our glasses and take a sip at the same time. _Cheers._

"There's something I don't understand…How did you both survive without killing anyone?" I ask her.

"Oh, I set traps that killed people and stole their food which slowly starved them. I was more daring with my thieving and stole water purifiers, sleeping bags; anything I needed. That killed tributes more painfully and slowly than a blade. My sister only stole food from anyone she crossed paths with; mostly you and your little haters." Atty smiles deviously at me and takes a long sip of her water.

"Impressive; coodos to you guys." We smirk at each other for a moment before a small girl walks over. I recognize her as Rue and smirk at her when her brown eyes cross mine.

"I haven't seen you around in a while, where you been?" She walks over to me and then eyes Atty wearily.

"Who is she?" Atty grins slyly at Rue in a dangerous way and it amuses me very much.

"An expert smuggler whose services I've come to appreciate." I smirk at her and she looks a little freaked out.

"What do you mean…smuggler?" Me and Atty burst out laughing and Rue smiles softly.

"She's the sister of that red-head girl who was very sneaky and smart. Put that together." I say, I don't want to get her to be too paranoid. Where's the fun in that? Okay…maybe there's actually a lot of fun and I'm just being soft.

"Oh…Can she get out of here?" Rue asks hopefully.

"Actually…Maybe…I'm working out the kinks of contacting help…" Atty takes a sip of her water and m head flips to her direction.

"Wait what? Contact who?" She waits for a moment, making sure I'm hooked like a fish on her words.

"District 13." I nearly choke on my drink as she says that and Rue looks confused.

"Sorry Atty but that District is gone, dead, and extinct." I say with a smirk at her stupidity, but it slowly dissolved at her sly grin.

"You're an idiot." She scowls at me and my smirk comes back.

"Ah, yes, but an idiot that can snap your neck."Rue smiles and laughs a little bit as if what I said was a joke. Geez, that girl has too much faith in me for her own good…or maybe health. She sure is a special little girl. Atty however…she thinks everything I say is a joke and I'm just a little consultant.

"Sure…" Atty rolls her eyes playfully at me and I see a flash of a smile.

"Anyway, they have spies here; I think some of the stylist are soldiers from 13 and I've at least met one spy. She was captured and mutated along with her brother; she knows how to get out." She says in a serious, low tone.

"Twins? What is their muttation?" I ask.

"White, scaly skin, red eyes, talons…why?" Atty looks at me a little puzzled.

"Um…yeah…how do you know that?"Rue is now confused too.

"Been down there before." I say and Atty nods like it makes sense, however for Rue it's all stuff she doesn't know.

**To make up for the SOOOOO SHORTness the next chapter will have a lot of action.**


	6. The Binding

**I'm feeling generous enough to right in a different tribute's (or bound)'s POV. Tell me who it should be unless you want me to pick. ****J Luv you guys! (Please note that I will be putting this Fanfic on other websites so it is not theft. Quizilla and maybe some others.)**

**Cato's POV**

**The Binding**

_"Yes, she played me like a violin."_

We all sit somewhat near the front as the giant screen flashes different Capital commercials and the chattering dies down. My eyes wander to notice that Snow is nowhere to be seen in the crowd, but rather in the back of the room sitting around a table with some other people. I shrug my shoulders and turn around, noticing Rue tapping her feet and fingers nervously. Atty comforts her but I stare stonily ahead as if I didn't notice; unlike them I've grown used to blood, to deaths in fact, but in a different way. As a career we've been taught to see death as glory, not something to mourn and fear. Though I've seen it in all the careers eyes when the weapons pierce through their hearts or sickness reaches them, we find out that death is not glory, that it is not something we wish to do.

"Rue stop it, it's not that bad until the end." Atty says strictly as more of an order. I would let her just be nervous because there is no reason for her to be, she's being weak. Plus I just don't care.

"Sorry, I just don't want to see more blood." Rue says shyly and a sigh escapes my lips. "What's wrong?" She looks at me with innocent eyes and I look away as the ads end into a picture of chained hands. It begins.

Unlike in the Hunger Games they don't waste time with monologue or actors saying stuff, they get right to the point.

_It shows the 12 bound sitting in a line in a dry, sandy desert, each tied up and blindfolded. Everyone is struggling against the binds but in a fraction of a second the mutt girl, Dusk, is standing and walks quickly over to, my great surprise, Marvel and unties him._

"What the heck?" Atty and Rue says at the same time. My thoughts exactly, why is she helping _him_? They don't know each other…maybe.

_Marvel stands up and follows Dusk towards a long box in the middle of the bound's circle. They exchange some words as he points out the lock and ask if she can pick it somehow. Dusk takes a pin out of her hair and inserts it into the lock, turning it a couple times until there's a 'pop' and it falls off. Marvel lifts the lid up to reveal 3 water bottles, two spears, throwing knives, a bag, and a chain. Marvel picks up the spear and one water bottle while Dusk takes everything else, the chain placed around her shoulders like a scarf._

_The cameras switch to the corner where the second mutt girl has untied herself; she wastes no time and takes off running into the distance. _

_Dusk looks over her shoulder and she and Marvel take off running in the other direction. _

I can see it in Marvel's eyes, he wants to go after the other mutt girl and kill her, even if he doesn't have to. Career was whipped strongly into him.

_The cameras rotate between the bound that have all gotten untied by now, the mutt girl, and Dusk and Marvel_.

By now it's mostly everyone traveling so chatter has struck up in the crowd.

"What do you think is going on between Dusk and Marvel?" Atty asks, but more in a way that she just wants to hear our thoughts.

"Well Dusk needed someone who was strong to help her, and Marvel needed someone smart who could guide him away from danger. So simple, he does the heavy lifting and she does the strategizing." I say without looking at them. From the corner of my eye I see Rue nod as if that had made sense.

"Yeah." She says.

_Dusk is a fast runner, Marvel is running at top speed but he is a couple feet behind her still. Aft about thirty minutes they stop band sit down, but it seems mostly for Marvel's sake._

_"Crazy, huh?" Marvel says between the breaths he's trying not to take._

_"We'll make it through." Dusk replies as she takes out a knife and starts sharpening it with a rock. A bird hobbles into the clearing, a fat one, and she flings the knife at it. "Light a fire, this out chance to cook the food before the Hunters are released." Marvel obeys and piles up some dead grass in the clearing, rubbing together to stones until a small fire lights. By then Dusk has plucked and gutted the bird and she puts it on a stick, turning it over the flames._

"Wake me up when something interesting happens." I say to Rue and she says a quiet "Okay." As I close my eyes, weakly urging for the smallest bit of sleep. Call me cold but I really have no interest.

"They've released the Hunters." Rue shakes me gently and I shoot awake, mistaking her for a trainer that caught me sleeping.

_There are older, fiercer people, mostly careers that are running into the direction where footprints lead. The bound who thought they'd hide instead of run are quickly found, tangled in nets and dragged back to their starting point. In the first 10 minutes, 4 bound were caught. The stronger kids that tried to fight back were stabbed and entangled in nets, but they get away with their injuries. The Hunters are a fierce bunch; none of them let their prey get away. Only one bound successfully escaped its Hunter by wounding him with his own weapon, the mutt girl._

"It's like the Cornucopia…except…" Rue whispers in a stunned way. The Capitol people around us cheer and shout different names, waving handkerchiefs in the air as they place bets. It's very sickening even to me, yet I have no right to criticize, I secretly wish to be in the action.

"Except only one person pursues you, someone who won't give up." Atty completes Rue's sentence a few minutes later.

_The camera is back on Marvel and Dusk, who are hurriedly running; Dusk pulling Marvel along after her. No one pursues them yet they run like their lives are on the line. They don't stop or slow down and eventually they are both gasping for air as they run, especially Dusk._

_Next is the mutt girl whose Hunter has caught up with her and aims a spear. She lets it fly and it hits the mutt girl, but the weapon shatters into a million pieces. Stunned, but not discourage, her Hunter takes out a long whip from her belt and it curls around the mutt girl's foot, taking her down. The Hunter races over and quickly goat ties her before her prey can retaliate, taking out a knife. _

"That girl's got fight…" Rue says in awe and horror.

"That's because she's a mutt." I turn and say.

"Her name's Nexa, not all traitors become an Avox." Atty mutters darkly and I feel Rue tense, I hadn't notice she fell over against my arm.

_Nexa struggles against her bonds until they burst off her, backlash hitting her hunter in the eye causing her to scream out in pain. The hunter screams out in rage as well as agony that she has gone blind in one eye and that she was going to murder her prey. Blood drips from her eye and cheek, as she raises a knife with a precarious look on her face. Nexa strikes her face with her hands, nails cutting through her Hunter's skin before running off into the dead foliage that stretches over the hills._

Rue shakes slightly against me and I can't help it, I put an arm around her and she looks at me, surprise on her face. Atty looks over with a scowl and…is that jealousy in her eyes?

_A young boy, the one from the 74th whose neck I snapped, is entangled in a net and silently trying to untie the knots, but with no luck. _

_His hunter has not arrived and all the other Hunters have settled down for the night; the hunting ends for today._

"Thank you, and please have a good night, the binding will play all night for those of you who wish to see the action continuously. And may the odds be ever in your favor." President Snow says, standing in front of the black screen. Rue doesn't move from her position for a moment so I end up hauling her onto her feet. She straightens herself out and into a more mature state before looking at me and Atty.

"The Capitol sucks and now I have nightmares." Atty says and Rue nods in a way that says she agrees 100 percent. Personally I wouldn't have a nightmare, but yeah, the Capitol sucks.

"Pretty much, I'm not tired though." I say as we walk with the crowd of people out the door.

"How are you not tired? You look exhausted!" Rue exclaims and pulls on my arm playfully.

"Well I'm fine; I'm going to go train." As I start to walk away Atty's arms lash out and attempt to pull me back. This embarrassing, two little girls hanging on my arms in the middle of a crowd, especially since I'm supposed to be a cold-blooded killer.

"The Hunger games are over. What's there to train for?" Rue's tone is serious and Atty looks at me like in the same, but darker, way.

"What's there to live for?" I growl and shake them off, disappearing into the crowd before they can say anything.

When I reach the 74th gym the swords are sitting on the metal rack, glimmering from the faint lights above. The handle feels natural in my hands as I weigh it and get comfortable with it. In my control the blade slashes the dummies apart and a scared Avox keeps replenishing them, a couple times I think I've almost stabbed him. Soon my sword starts hitting an opposing blade but I'm not aware; I'm blinded by mysterious rage in me, it's like I'm not even thinking, yet I am.

The room twirls around several times and my limbs are frozen solid. I think I trained all night, and I wake up on slumped against a couch, no clue on how I got there. Did I drink or something? I let out a moan as I move my arm but clamp my mouth shut praying no one was with me to hear it. To my luck the sound of feet is heard and I quickly try to pretend I'm asleep. It doesn't work.

"You know, for a career, you're pretty stupid sometimes." Atty pokes me in the eye causing them to open and see her smirking face.

"Like you're not messed up."' I snap at her but her look doesn't falter because she knows I'm practically helpless right now. My statement correct, she is messed up because she seems to enjoy my squirming.

"You've got a point…but it's nice to be the least corrupted person in the room." That sets me off. Not taking the pain into account I lurch up and shove her powerfully, but I fall and land on my chest as she runs out the room like a coward. Why do my limbs feel like stone and why do they ache so much when I move?

So there I am, stranded on the cold floor without the strength to move. Perhaps in the games I would be running by now but this is not the games; I have no desire or motivation to move. I wish I could melt into the floor or just die. I would literally kill for some nightlock berries to be in my mouth, my life blacking out into oblivion. What if this was the afterlife? What if we can never escape the grasp of the Capitol?

"Hello?" Someone walks into the room and I press my face into the floor, hoping that they skip over me. What it wrong with my luck?! The person bends down and gently ruffles my hair before they lift me up (with some difficulty haha) and place me on the couch. I twitch a bit from the movements and then I'm looking into the blue eyes of the district 5 girl, Viclean.

"What the heck?! Go away!" I snap and attempt to swat her away but she just steps away from my clumsy movements. I tire out and just fall over to a laying position, defeat clouding my eyes that refuse to meet her.

"I'm not sorry that I was mad at you and that I slapped you. I'm not sorry that Atty offended you and I'm not sorry that you bruised her chest." She says, trying to hide a smirk. That sounds like something I would say to her, and I can't help but mentally grin.

"So do you not forgive me?" Okay she is a lot like me.

"Yes, I don't forgive you."

"Excellent, we're even." Viclean ruffles my hair playfully, but then starts to comb it with her fingers. I don't feel like talking so I just let her brush my hair with her soft hands. The TV turns on to show the binding but I don't feel like moving my face that is pressed into the cushion. I'm too miserable and comfy…that doesn't make sense…I don't make sense. Viclean tells me what happens, somehow seeing my reluctance to move.

"Dusk and Marvel never rested, they're still running somehow. I don't like Marvel. Nexa got seriously wounded and is lying under a bush…" I tune out after a while and begin to relax, you know, as much as you can with kids being slaughtered on the TV above you.

"Okay, Marvel flippin' fainted…and Dusk looks pretty mad…she's dragging him behind her and drinking some water…" I hate Marvel too.

I let out a sigh and sit up; Viclean places her hands back in her lap and looks at me expectantly.

"What happened?" I inquire with a curious tone.

"Well, several things. You dropped from physical exhaustion, dehydration, mental exhaustion, a few deep cuts on your arms..." I look at myself to see that I'm in the tribute training outfit with my arms bandaged up. How do I miss so much stuff?

"Okay, where have you been?" Viclean's face twists as she thinks.

"Nowhere important but you need to rest."

"I don't need to rest; I'm not weak like you."

"I thought you were taught to respect authority and take orders? Well, this is an order." Her voice sweetens and I can't help but grin.

"Fine I'll stay still but you can't make me rest." I answer defiantly. Viclean puts her hands on my head and gently pushes me down into a laying position, my head in her lap as she begins to comb her fingers through my hair.

"No. I think you will relax." And she's right. I do.

After a while I'm woken up by more footsteps in the room. Its little Rue who comes and sits on the couch, I supposed meeting Viclean for the first time.

"Rue this is Viclean." I mumble without opening my eyes, I can just tell what's going on by the sounds in the room.

"Foxface." Rue says absentmindedly. Viclean's hands still stroke my hair and it feels good, no one has ever touched me this gentle.

"Another girl bound was captured. 6 bound left." She says, narrating the screen. I involuntarily smile peacefully and I hear Rue giggle.

"Wow, you found his relax switch." She says cheerfully. Viclean laughs lightly, fingers tenderly brushing my eye-lids back. I sit up and then get off the couch, walking over to a cabinet, opening the doors and taking out a bottle of water. The water, though warm, is refreshing and I gurgle it around in my mouth a couple times, you know, just for fun.

The door slams open and I jerk up from my sitting position. The people who walk through are my old trainers from District 2. Immediately I get to my feet and stand straight, like it was programmed into me.

"You've gone soft; at least that's what we think. Can you show us otherwise?" Stripling says, handing me some brass knuckles and looking at Viclean and Rue who are hugging each other, eyes wide. I put the knuckles on and look unsure at Stripling who nods and points to them.

Maybe in the past I wouldn't have hesitated to strike them, but I feel different now, I can't do it. I'm not soft, I feel that I would betray them if the time came but I can't hurt the girls who have helped me in cold-blood. It would be…dishonorable. Plus…I can tell them both care about me like my trainers never would cut close to, and that's what I grudgingly admit I want in the long run.

Stripling raises an eyebrow at me and I scow at him. I take off the brass knuckles and drop them to the ground, then walk over and stand in front of Rue and Viclean.

"I see…don't worry, we'll toughen you up." He whistles and two peacekeepers come in. One is holding a syringe connected to a bag of fluid and the other picks up the brass knuckles. The one with the knuckles aims a punch at me and I dodge it, but I refuse to abandon my guard of Rue and Viclean. He swings again and nails me across the cheek, busting open the scab from Carmine's knife. I try my best not to flinch and whack him two times across the head. Someone tosses the peacekeeper a gun and he hits the butt of it against my forehead, light enough to just daze me. I fall down but do my best to stand up quickly. I scoop Rue into my arms and grab Viclean's hand as the peacekeeper hits me in the back. We run outside and I tell them to hide above in the ropes course, they don't object as the peacekeeper shoots me in the arm, blood steadily pouting out of the wound. He rounds me up in the corner, a bow now in his hands. HE pulls back the bowstring, let's the arrow fly, and it goes through my hand, trapping me to the wall.

The other peacekeeper, a girl with the syringe, rushes over and presses the syringe into my elbow, the male pinning me down the ground as she pumps a golden liquid into me. I start to feel lightheaded until I can barely move, and then, obscurity overcomes me.

Somehow, though, I think about how maybe…I have gone soft. _Is it wrong that I showed a weak spot and disobeyed? Is it wrong that I rebelled because I felt…attached….to someone? _

If it was wrong then I could understand why they were punishing me, at the training academy they always told us that closeness to another person was immoral, and the punished me and Clove for it by putting us together in the same Hunger Games. So yeah, I do seem feeble in their eyes.

**I made gifs for this fanfic with lines from the story; I think they're pretty good. If you're interested please PM me. **

**Review please and I'll be so happy!**


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